Illuminated
by Yurinnii
Summary: Roy Mustang's world was black. At least, until Edward Elric entered and illuminated everything. AU, eventual RoyEd
1. Chapter 1

**I shouldn't be writing this... I shouldn't be posting this... but I'm going to anyway.**

**This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction, so I'm sorry if anyone is out of character! I tried my best, but you know how it is...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own.**

_**~oOo~**_

_Illuminated_

Black.

That was his world.

Dark.

Nothing.

Not a sliver of light broke through.

It was just him and the darkness.

It did not used to be like this. For a fleeting moment when he was young he saw the light. He saw the world.

Then it was taken away in a flash.

A crash.

A bang.

A lick of flame.

And now everything was black.

He had once seen the world.

His dark eyes had gazed upon his wonders.

He wished that he had appreciated it more.

He wished he had taken in the simple yet beautiful details of the world before it had been taken away.

But he did not, for he was young and naïve and thought that he would see forever until his dying day.

How wrong he was.

It was all black now.

He knew his face was scarred, oh yes. He knew from every tell-tale gasp, every whisper when they thought he couldn't hear them. He knew, although he could not see, that he got stared at, got given looks of pity.

He acted indifferent.

After all, why pretend that you are something that you're not? He knew he was scarred. He knew he was blind.

So why pretend he wasn't?

Roy Mustang's world was black.

And he never let any light in.

_**~oOo~**_

The day had been perfectly fine, perfectly _normal_.

He had acted out his normal routine.

Nothing was different to what it usually was.

So why did everything go to pot?

Why did everything change?

It took only a sentence for his normal world to come crashing down around him.

"Class, I would like you to meet Edward Elric."

A new student.

Oh _yippee._

"He's going to be joining our class from now on, so make him feel welcome." The teacher droned. Roy was barely concentrating, instead clicking his fingers slightly. He was snapped into reality when a smooth yet slightly high pitched voice interrupted the teacher.

"Hi."

He imagined the voice would go with a small, shy wave from this Edward Elric. From the voice, the guy sounded handsome, so he imagined that there would be girls blushing and looking away.

"Now, Edward," Mrs Whats-Her-Face said without any enthusiasm, "the only available seat is next to Roy."

Oh.

_Oh._

_Fuck._

The class sniggered and booed.

"Ha, good luck newbie!" One of the dicks called from the back of the class.

"He's gonna need it if he's sitting next to flame-o over there!"

He feigned indifference, as usual. He'd heard it all before, nothing affected him any more.

"Settle down children!" The teacher yelled, some emotion actually entering her voice for a second.

There was a clattering sound. He felt a presence next to him.

"Hi." The same smooth voice from before spoke again. "I'm Edward."

"I know."

"Don't be a smart ass." Edward retorted. "What's your name?"

"Roy Mustang." He muttered.

"Well it's nice to meet you Roy Mustang." Suddenly his hand was being grasped in a tight grip and shaken. He resisted the urge to cry out in shock, knowing full well that if he did the dicks at the back of the class would never let him hear the end of it.

And it was just Edward shaking his hand.

They sat in silence whilst the teacher scribbled on the board. When they were told to work and the chatter started up again, Edward spoke.

"What do you get up to then?"

Roy was sick of it. He was sick of Edward sitting next to him. He was sick of his incessant questions. He was sick of Edward Elric not playing by the rules.

"Why aren't you asking me why I'm blind?" He asked. It probably came out a bit louder than expected but the constant talking didn't stop.

The question shocked Edward into silence, yet still he continued.

"Most people are. They say 'how did you get those scars?' or 'how come you're blind then? Was it some accident or were you born that way?' I don't mind, ask away." A hint of sarcasm crept into his voice, lacing the words with venom.

It took Edward a while to respond.

"Between you and me," Edward whispered, "I know what its like to get those questions."

"That's a bullshit answer and you know it. You're just too scared. You're scared of me and the answer you'll get. Well if you don't want to know, I'm not going to tell you."

"That's fine by me." The teen retorted. "I don't even know why I tried to be civil in the first place if you're just going to be like that. I won't talk to you again."

His neighbour huffed and there was a whooshing sound that was probably Edward turning away. They fell into another silence.

_'Way to go Roy. You just pushed away the only person to treat you as an equal in years. Well done, congrats, here, have a medal.'_

The day was off to a brilliant start.

Only six more hours to go.

_**~oOo~**_

'How does a blind person do work?' One may ask. 'How can they write and do school work when they can't see the paper or pen, and they can't see the notes the teacher made?'

Well Roy Mustang used a Braille typewriter. He made notes with the typewriter at school. These notes were used for revision or help when he needed it. He did the homework that was set on a computer with a Braille keyboard, that could print in Braille or actual words that people with sight could read.

That's all that I'm going to say about the matter, because if I went into any more detail half the chapter would be exposition about typewriters.

He didn't get as much homework as other, normal people. Apparently, they didn't want to overload him with work to make things easier for him at home or something.

What a load of bullshit that was.

He spent most of the night doing the aforementioned homework. After that was done he didn't attempt to go downstairs and socialise. He just stayed in his room.

He was fine with that. The walls were sound proof, and no one could hear what he was saying.

He quickly made sure that the door was closed and barred. He wasn't allowed a lock on his door in case 'he injured himself and needed assistance' which again was a load of bull. He was perfectly fine on his own, thank you very much.

He made his way to his bed and sat down. Roy listened for a few minutes to make sure that no one was going to bother him before he started.

"Hi Maes." He whispered. "Are you there? I suppose I better tell you how my day went, before you force it out of me.

Today was... different. There was a new kid, absolute douchebag if you ask me..." He could imagine his friend giving him a 'really' look. "Oh okay, he was actually pretty decent. I mean, he didn't treat me any different. But you know me, always screwing things up. I messed up, I pushed him away. I shouldn't have done that. I could have had an actual friend for once. I mean, not that you're not my friend, just... a school friend. One that could stand up for me, you know?

Those dicks pushed me again. I only got a scrape this time, thank God. Last time I ended up with a black eye, and they almost got reported before I said it was because I tripped and fell. This time they only took my cane for a bit, nothing new.

God Maes... I miss you. I sometimes think about what life would be like with you here. Probably much more bearable. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't done that... if I'd have listened to you... oh well, its all in the past. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me Maes."

He could imagine his friend's response, clear as day in his mind.

_**'It's fine Roy-boy. You just keep your head up, and don't let people keep you down! I'll be here, even if no one else is! Now, go get 'em!'**_

He chuckled slightly. "Thanks Maes. I knew I could count on you. Goodnight."

The black haired teen curled up under the covers. He tried to sleep, but he could not. Images and voices kept flashing through his mind.

_'You shouldn't do that Roy... its a bad idea.'_

_'It'll be fine! I know what I'm doing!'_

_The worried face of his friend, glasses almost falling down his face._

_'We could get seriously hurt! Your house could be damaged! What if-'_

_'Maes. We'll be fine.'_

_'If you insist...'_

_Flames._

_Fire._

_Screams._

_Smoke._

_His friend's face, contorted in pain, mouth open wide, screaming his name._

_'Roy! Roy, help me!'_

_Then he was engulfed by the fire._

_His parents cries for help._

_The fire taking everything._

_Reaching towards him._

_Licking his body._

_Touching his face._

_Then darkness._

_'It's all your fault!'_

_'I don't know why I tried to be civil with you.'_

_'I know what it's like to get asked those questions.'_

_'What do you get up to?'_

_'Don't be a smart ass.'_

_'What's your name?'_

_'I'm Edward.'_

_'Hi.'_

_**~oOo~**_

**Wow. I should _really _not be writing another fic. But the plot bunnies... oh Jegus they just wouldn't leave me alone!**

**I have two other fics on the go right now, and they'll take priority over this one so updates might be few and far between. I don't know when one will be finished, but the other only has a few more chapter left I think! Even thought it's the holidays for me, I've been pretty busy, so I haven't been able to update for a while.**

**Also, with the ending... the end part of the ending is his and Edward's conversation played in reverse.**

**This is eventual RoyEd, so if you don't like that then please don't read! And definitely don't send hate through the reviews!**

**Speaking of reviews... I would really like some constructive criticism! Tell me what you think! Good, bad, bloody awful... whatever you think, I'd like to know!**

**It might be a while until the next update, but I'll try my best! See you soonish!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This update comes a lot quicker than I thought it would! I mean, with school and starting some other stuff and my other fanfiction, I thought that I would totally forget about it, but I didn't.**

**I'm sorry if anyone is out of character! I'm still not entirely sure if I'm in character or not!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own**

_**~oOo~**_

_Illuminated_

Roy actually had the guts to think that Edward would talk to him the next day.

He didn't.

There was no smooth voice talking in his ear. In fact, the only person who talked to him all day was the teacher.

He could hear Edward however. The teen was talking to the people on the other side of him. What were their names again? John? Vincent? Klaude? He didn't know.

He totally didn't care either.

This continued the next day.

And the day after that.

And the day after that.

Until after one week with only using his voice to say to his 'parents' what he wanted for tea, yes, school was fine thank you mother, no, nothing happened, yes, teacher I am here, he finally plucked up the courage to say something.

"Hello."

There was a long pause before a reply.

"Are you... Talking to me?" The silky voice questioned.

"Yes. I wanted to apologise."

"I don't want your apology." Edward hissed. "You treated me like shit and now you want to apologise and forget it? If you think that you've got another thing coming."

There was a huffing sound.

He was slightly deterred, but he wasn't going to give up yet. He was a Mustang, and as his dad used to say, Mustangs aren't quitters.

"I'm... I'm very sorry Edward. I'm not used to people willingly talking to me, and I wasn't sure that I wanted anyone to. But I've realised that I quite like someone talking to me. So I'm very sorry."

There was no reply.

"Edward? I'm sorr-"

"Call me Ed." The boy interrupted.

"What?" "Call me Ed." He repeated.

"That's what all my friends call me. Edward makes me feel old."

Roy tried to smile, tried to force his lips up even just a bit, but he couldn't. He hadn't smiled for such a long time that he had kind of forgotten how.

At lunch, Roy usually stayed in the classroom alone. It was easier for him, meaning that he didn't have to trapeze around with his cane and go through all the hassle of getting it out of his bag. It also meant that no one could bully him, trip him up, take his cane etc.

This lunch time he was just about to get his sandwich out of his bag when he felt a hand grasp his.

He automatically yelped and there was a slight chuckle.

"Don't worry Mustang, it's just me."

Roy knew it was Edward from the silky yet slightly high pitched tone and the warmth in the way he was speaking.

"What are you doing?" He asked as Edward pulled him up.

"Talking you to the lunch room." Ed stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"May I ask why?"

"Because that's where you eat lunch dumb ass!" Ed tugged slightly and he almost fell flat on his face.

"You might eat lunch there." Roy huffed, trying to pull his hand away from Edward's surprisingly strong grip. "But I don't. I eat lunch right here, so if you'll excuse me-"

"Stop being such a spoil sport!" Edward interrupted. "Come on, it'll be an adventure!"

"An adventure? What are you, five?"

"Pleaseeeee?" Ed layered on the voice cuteness layers, and Roy could almost imagine him doing puppy dog eyes.

He sighed. This boy was going to be the end of him.

"Fine."

"Come on Mustang," Ed yelled, tugging his hand before walking out of the classroom, Roy unwillingly in tow, "lunch is the best time of the day!"

There was so much noise.

Too much noise.

As they weaved through the corridors, all Roy could think about was the noise.

Chatter.

Talking.

Shouts.

He shuddered slightly. This is why he didn't do this.

Apparently they must have reached the lunch room because there was a lot more weaving and dodging going on.

"We're here." Edward announced. "There's a seat right there, so I'm going to sit you down in it."

Roy nodded and he felt strong hands on his shoulders, pushing him down. Luckily there was actually a seat there and he made himself comfortable.

He heard Edward sit down next to him.

"Hey guys." The boy announced. "This is Roy."

"We all know who he is." A voice muttered, and Roy almost had to stop himself from crying out. He hadn't really registered that there were other people opposite him.

"We just don't want to talk to him." Another voice chipped in.

Edward seemed oblivious to their negative words. "Come on! Introduce yourselves!"

There was a group wide sigh.

Roy decided to play one of his games. Guess what the person would look like game. It was pretty boring to be honest, but passed the time quite well.

"Jean Havoc." His voice was quite deep, the typical teenage boy voice. He would be handsome, tall and slight muscled.

"Heymans Breda." One boy said, sounding like he was currently stuffing his face with something. He would be slightly chubby, but some of that would be muscle.

"Vato Falman." A cold, calculating voice. Usually expressionless, but prone to bouts of severe emotion.

"Kain Fuery." Chipper yet worried. The boy would be round faced and always with a smile on his face.

"Riza Hawkeye." Soft yet hard, if that made any sense. He could imagine the girl being very pretty, but also deadly.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Edward said. "I'm just going to go get myself a drink, I'll be back in a second."

_ 'No, Edward, please don't leave me alone with them!'_

But the boy was already gone.

The six sat in uncomfortable silence.

"So..." Fuery (was it Fuery?) started, letting the end of the sentence trail off.

"The weather outside is nice, isn't it?" Roy commented, even though he couldn't see what it was like.

"Look." Jean growled, and he knew that this was directed at him. "We don't like you. At all. We're only being civil with you because Edward seems to like you, and he's a good guy and our friend. So we won't disturb you, and you won't disturb us, you got that? If you do, we'll personally feed you to the jocks."

Roy had to suppress the urge to gulp. Instead he nodded slightly.

"Good. It's agreed on then, Scarface." Breda spat the nickname out like it was a bad taste in his mouth. It probably was, to be honest. It certainly was to him.

It was then that Edward chose the time to return.

"I'm sorry I took so long guys! It's just that all they seemed to have was milk, and it took me forever to find some juice!"

"It's cool Ed. We were just having a chat to Roy." Jean said, a sickly sweet tone entering his voice.

"Oh good! I'm glad you guys are getting along!"

The group of six proceeded to have a conversation that breached just about every topic known to man. Roy felt incredibly insignificant as he sat there listening to the group of friends chat, eating the crappy sandwich his 'mother' made for him that morning. He felt like a third wheel.

He felt like he didn't belong.

Maybe that was because he didn't.

_**~oOo~**_

There's an expression somewhere. It goes something like 'things will get better.'

Roy Mustang knew that that statement was utter bullshit. Things never got better. Maybe they did for other people, but certainly not for him.

Every day for a week he was dragged to that stupid lunch room to eat his stupid lunch and sit with Edward's stupid friends. They ignored him and he was totally cool with that. I mean, they weren't even his friends! All he had to do was be civil, nothing more.

Edward seemed oblivious to the fact coldness between the two groups.

It was like they were two sides of the same coin. Edward was the one that flipped it. Mostly it landed 'them' up, but ever so often it landed in his favour.

One week after he had first been dragged down there, he had had enough. When Edward came to collect him (for that had become a thing, Edward collecting him then the two would walk together to the lunch room) he refused to move.

"I'm not moving."

"Come on Mustang." Edward whined, sounding like a six year old. "It'll be fun!"

"You say that every time and it never is. I'm not going and that's final."

"Alright then. We'll just have to eat here today." A chair scraped and Edward sat down. "I'll call the guys, see if they want to come up. Breda and Fuery both have school dinners so they can't, but I'll call and see if one of the others want to come up."

There were a few beeping noises. "Hey, Havoc? Roy doesn't want to go to the lunch room today, so do a few of ya wanna come to the classroom?" A pause for a reply. "Ah, okay. See ya later."

The phone was snapped shut.

"Well?" Roy questioned, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"They might come up. I don't thing they really want to leave Fuery and Breda on their own. They might cause a bit of trouble." Roy made an 'ahh' sound.

The two sat in comfortable silence.

"Where did you last go to school Ed?" He asked.

"It was a little place in a little place. The village was Resembool, you probably haven't heard of it."

Roy shook his head.

"I think I went with my parents once when I was younger. The name seems familiar."

"Oh, if you did go then you would have stayed in the B&B above the only bar. That's pretty near my house actually."

"I'm learning something new every day."

Edward chuckled, a warm, hearty sound.

"Yeah. There's not many that have heard of Resembool."

"Why did you move then?"

There was a pause.

"My mum died. My dad didn't want to live in a place that reminded him of her every day, so he moved me and my brother up here."

"If it's any consolation, both my parents are dead as well." Roy said, trying to deliver the sentence with a light tone.

"I've heard the rumours."

"Rumours?" He hadn't heard any rumours. He had guessed that there would be some, but he hadn't physically heard them.

"Yeah. They say that you killed-"

"Hey Ed!" The voice of Jean Havoc floated through the door. "And Roy." He added in an undertone.

"Oh, hey Havoc!" Ed chirped. "So you decided to come up after all!"

"Just me I'm afraid." Jean sounded like he was chewing on something. "None of the others wanted to leave Fuery and Breda on their own."

Ed ahhed and Roy sighed in relief, inwardly thanking Jean.

The past conversation was forgotten, and for that Roy was glad.

_**~oOo~**_

"Hello Maes. How are you today? I'm fine, thank you. Ed sat with me again today, but this time in the classroom where I would usually sit. We talked about his home town, which I had actually gone to when I was younger. He moved here because his mum died, apparently. He almost asked me whether the rumours that are going around are true. The rumours that I killed my parents. I was glad that his friend Jean walked in at that moment, because I would hate to have to tell him that those rumours are true... Anyway, goodnight Maes. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

_**'Goodnight Roy boy! And remember, keep your head up!'**_

_**~oOo~**_

**A/N: this was written on the bus journey to school every day for about a week. **

**Again, the next update might be a while. I've still got two other fics on the go right now, and they'll take priority.**

**Please review? I really enjoyed seeing all your positive feedback last time. Constructive criticism is appreciated! Please tell me what you think!**

**I'll try to update soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it's a little bit late, I'm having trouble updating all my fanfiction at the moment, what with a lot of school work and all. But, it's almost Christmas!**

**Again, I apologise if anyone is out of character. I still don't think I've quite gotten the grasp of writing them ;w;**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

_**~oOo~**_

_Illuminated_

If you'd have told Roy Mustang two years ago that he would have an actual friend... He would have called bullshit.

To this very day, he still called bullshit. Edward wasn't his friend, he was just... An acquaintance!

Believe it or not, before the accident he had friends. Not many, but good, reliable friends, Maes being one of them.

He used to have many things when he was young. Friends, family, sight. It's amazing what you take for granted.

His favourite colour used to be red. Red like the sunset, red like his school uniform.

Red like fire.

But going back to friends, Roy certainly didn't count Edward's friends. The group hated him, and he was totally fine with that. I mean, he didn't need friends anyway. He'd lasted eight years without them, and he could last eight more. He could last his whole life if he wanted to.

Even adults hated him. Teachers because he was snarky and he didn't try. 'Roy has great potential' they would say 'he just doesn't apply his skills'

And why should he? It's not like he was ever going to get a job with his sight and scars. Not to mention his attitude.

Edward however... He made him feel different. He felt slightly happier with Edward around, like the world was just that little bit brighter. Every day he spent with Edward he felt just a little bit more cheery, a little bit more hopeful. It was like the longer the two were together, the more Edward was illuminating his world.

Which was complete and utter bullshit.

But Roy couldn't help thinking that it wasn't.

_**~oOo~**_

"Tell me about yourself."

Every day Edward would ask, and every day he would avoid the question. He would say that there wasn't much to say, and he would change the subject.

Usually they would go down to the lunch room, but sometimes Roy would refuse to move. Edward's short (He knew Edward was short because every time his height was mentioned, the teen would scream 'I'm not little!' or something to that extent. It sounded a lot like Napoleons complex to Roy, and he liked to exploit that as much as he could) stature couldn't move him, even with the freaky amount of muscle Roy felt under that glove (seriously, it was like the hand was made of metal or something!). On those days, Edward would call Jean and tell him that they weren't coming, and the group usually wouldn't come up, using Fuery and Breda as an excuse.

Roy preferred those days. He and Edward could talk, and no one could bother them. They would talk about random topics, sometimes serious, sometimes not. However, they somehow always managed to get round to the same topic.

Roy knew that Edward had heard the rumours. Who hadn't? It was common knowledge that Roy had burned his house down, killing his parents and best friend. That's how he got those scars. That's why he was blind.

Edward seemed to always want to ask him. They would skirt around the topic, and sometimes Roy just wanted to shout 'just ask me about my scars already!' It seemed that they always came close, and were getting closer every day.

Roy wished that day would hurry up and arrive.

He wanted someone to tell, he wanted someone to know the truth.

He wanted that someone to be Edward.

He doubted it ever would be.

_**~oOo~**_

One day, Roy Mustang found himself doing something incredibly brave and incredibly stupid.

Well, for him. For other (_'normal'_ his subconscious hissed) people this age, it would have been practically a weekly thing, something that came naturally to him.

The only time Roy could ever remember doing this was the time he asked Maes to sleep over. The time before the accident.

He must have done it before. He had had friends, didn't he? He must have asked them at some point.

It wasn't like it mattered. He was going to do this.

_'Take a deep breath Roy, you can do this. It's going to be easy as walk in the park.'_

_'Walks in the park aren't easy! I need my cane, and usually Claire doesn't let me out without at least her or Kevin-'_

_'Shut your mouth, this is going to be easy, okay!'_

Roy tapped Edward on the shoulder.

The two were in the classroom again. This was the second time this week (and it was only Wednesday).

Roy was pushing his luck more often, knowing that Edward was sitting down with him quicker, protesting less. Edward hadn't even bothered to call his friends this time.

"What's up Mustang?" Edward asked, mouth full.

"First, don't talk with your mouth full Edward. It's not polite."

"Shut your damn cakehole, jerk." Ed retorted, speech coming out clear. "What did you want?"

"I was wondering..." Roy muttered. Sweat began to pool on his forehead. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, desperate to be released. He couldn't do this, he _couldn't fucking do this_. "Doyouwanttocomeovertominetonight?"

There was no reply.

Thoughts whizzed through Roy's brain.

_'Oh God, I fucked up. I fucked up. This is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever done. Jesus fucking Christ **why did I fucking do that oh God**-'_

"I'd love to."

He froze.

Edward had said yes.

He had said yes.

Edward Mother Fucking Elric had willingly agreed to come over to Roy Mustang's house.

For the first time in years, Roy found a smile forming on his face.

_**~oOo~**_

The walk back from school was torture.

He had told Claire (he refused to call her mum) this morning that he would have a friend walk him home, and she was okay with that. She expressed her delight at Roy having a friend for the first time in years, and Roy wanted to hit her. He could have made friends, he just didn't want to.

_'You keep telling yourself that.'_

But anyway, Roy had his cane out and was walking the familiar route home, except this time Edward was with him.

Conversation was non-existent. The casual atmosphere they had at lunch had disappeared and left them with an awkward silence. Neither wanted to start a conversation, but both wanted there to be conversation.

"I'm looking forward to seeing your house." Edward commented.

"Its not much." Roy replied. He didn't actually know whether that was the truth or not, having never seen the house himself. It had been described to him, and it didn't sound too fancy, but you could never be sure. He didn't even know what his own room looked like.

"I bet you're lying." Edward laughed.

"Are you sure about that."

"No, but I can hazard a guess."

Edward grasped Roy's weak hand with his muscled one.

"You were going to walk into the road." The teen explained.

"Don't you think it looks a little bit gay?" Roy asked.

"Mustang, I am the definition of a little bit gay. Look in the dictionary and you'll just see my face."

Roy chuckled.

"We're almost there. And for the record, I was fine."

"Something tells me no." Edward took the cane from Roy's other hand, the hand he currently wasn't holding. "You won't be needing this."

"I think you're wrong. You're more than just a little bit gay."

"Shut your mouth, asshole."

_**~oOo~**_

**A/N: I must use the word bullshit around once a chapter.**

**Please review! I really appreciate it when I get positive feedback!**

**Edit: I didn't have time to proof read this chapter so it was posted as all one block ;w; I've fixed it now!**


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